ARBUTUS

Doldrums, aka Airick Woodhead, is the Canadian's first project since the late '00s, when he fronted The Hidden Cameras-championed indie pop act Spiral Beach. That band, despite their riotous, anything-goes live shows, were downright conventional in comparison to Doldrums. More

MISRA

Academy Songs, Volume I unfolds within the confines of an imagined all-boys prep academy in frontman John Orth's mind. And while the single "Golden Sparklers" delivers a flicker, it turns out to be more of a flash in the pan by the time the last track rolls around. More

WARNER BROS.

Holy Fire opens with a sense of gravity. A low buzz and a pattering in the distance draft images of cavernous space before the guitar even shimmers into existence. And then it builds, each new instrument stoking the fire. More

WARNER BROS.

Holy Fire is one of those records that could be succinctly summarized in five words: "This is a Foals album." Anyone familiar with their output since 2008 debut Antidotes will know exactly what it sounds like, with modulated synths combining with tremolated guitars (so much tremolo!) to sound a bit like all those bands whose albums Dave Sitek produced during his reign as King of Brooklyn circa 2008.More

MATADOR/ESCHO

The second album from Denmark's Iceage opens with a delicious din. Throw on some headphones and lean into the dense swirl of crackling guitar, deep throb, and clattering drums of "Ecstasy." Had My Bloody Valentine incorporated economy and aggression into their mix circa Loveless they might have pounded out a similar trail.

SUB POP

Pissed Jeans' fourth album plays like the sound of a herd of buffalo charging from one end of a string of subway cars to another, and while they may slow their pace occasionally, cringing passengers know better than to climb down off their seats. More

(Thrill Jockey)

In 2012, Baltimore's Matmos released The Ganzfeld EP as a "taster" for this album. It was reportedly the outcome of a series of experiments into the "science" of telepathy and unsurprisingly turned out to be enormously self-indulgent rubbish. More

Bad Seed Ltd.

Push the Sky Away, Nick Cave's 15th studio album with the Bad Seeds, is steeped in a calm, restrained atmosphere. It could hardly be further removed from the raucous Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! or the wacked-out, sleazy garage rock Grinderman, which should please the Cave apostles who prefer his music stay morose. More